How to Choose a Caregiver after a Spinal Cord Injury!

 

How to Choose a Caregiver after a Spinal Cord Injury! Choosing the right caregiver is one of the most important decisions we are faced with following a spinal cord injury.  Choosing the right caregiver can make all the difference in the world to your recovery and quest for independence.

 

Family generally does not make the best caregivers, except for in the very beginning or for short periods of time for filling in when a regular caregiver is not available.  From my experience as a person living with a spinal cord injury I would have quite a few concerns having my immediate family do my personal care.  There are just some things that just wouldn’t feel right having my mother or anyone in my family do for me.  Bowel and bladder care would be at the top of that list followed by showering and dressing.

 

We tend to hurt the ones we love, which is what we end up doing to our family when they become our caregivers.  In the beginning of recovery our feelings and emotions run high and low from one minute to the next, and we get depressed real easy.  I was very angry and mean in the beginning because I could not channel that negative energy into something physical, so I said a lot of mean and hurtful things.  Unfortunately it is very easy to put this at the feet of our mother or anyone in the family, and unfortunately we can be very selfish during our recovery.  Put yourself in their shoes, and think about what they will go through and how they will feel.  I can’t imagine what was going on in my mother’s head when she was told her son broke his neck, and would require care for the rest of his life, but to add more grief to her by making her do my personal care day after day just doesn’t seem fair.

 

Another frequent choice for a caregiver is your spouse.  This one I have mixed feelings about, being that for the first three years after my accident my wife was my caregiver.  The problem here again is the caregiver ends up doing more for the patient then they actually need, they feel sorry and try to do everything possible to make life better.  Unfortunately it doesn’t make life better it actually slows down our learning and recovery, because we need to do the things that we can do and learn to do the things we can’t.  The only way for us to live again is to take control of our own lives.  Of course there are things we are not able to do, but most things we can adapt to (I can clean my house from top to bottom, do laundry and even take the garbage out).  So these things can be done, but when you have someone holding your hand doing everything you cannot progress and move forward.

 

Independent living is an organization that provides services for the disabled people in the community.  They provide personal care attendants and other services, and the best thing about them is that you can find your own attendants even if they do not work for Independent living.  Once you find a person you want as an attendant they fill out paperwork and then are employed through independent living, but they are actually working for you.  This is probably the best way to hire care attendants, but always make sure you have at least one attendant for a backup so you can call when you get in a jam.  There are also agencies to provide personal care attendants as well, but if Independent living is an option that is your best bet.

 

How to Choose a Caregiver after a Spinal Cord Injury!  I really feel you should not use family as your long-term caregivers, however in the beginning they do provide a lot of support, love, and compassion which is needed after an injury. This is where independent living can help you find the right caregiver; they also have many other services that are very beneficial.  After six months you should look into independent living and start to transition into using other caregivers, it’s all about taking control of your care, and in the big picture your life!

 

Michael C.

Inspiring Newly Injured Quadriplegics!

Inspiring Newly Injured Quadriplegics!  Well fortunately most newly injured people while in physical rehab are pretty inspired and motivated.  Most of them cling to the hopes that they will walk again; unfortunately reality just hasn’t bitten them yet.  It’s the ones that have been injured for a couple of months, they are the difficult ones at least I know I was.

 

I have to go to the doctors today, and my actor happens to work at the physical rehab I went to when I first became injured.  So after my doctor’s appointment and going to pay a visit to the spinal cord injury unit I was on after my injury.  My life recently started working there so I get the lowdown on how many spinal cord injuries and there are, their level of injury, and their age and so on.

 

Now I have quite a reputation at the rehab, because the last time I was in there I gave my doctors and the rest of the staff there probably the hardest time they ever had.  I ended up being asked to leave after getting caught drinking.  This was about three months after my injury in reality it was setting in and wasn’t being kind to me.  So when I last Rusk rehab I left arm pretty bad terms.

 

Since my last time at rehab I had taken giant steps (okay pushes, since I can’t walk) in my recovery.  I have rehabilitated myself to independence, and gone back to the rehab to make amends with my doctors and the staff I once terrorized.  So I have gained some respect and am actually like either people at the rehab.  I have even since been asked to come and speak at a spinal cord group.

 

From time to time I have talked about going up and offering peer support to the newly injured, however I am not actually follow through.  So today will give me the perfect opportunity to go there and offer my support.  I know it would have helped a lot if there had been somebody around like myself back when I was in rehab.  Not very many spinal cord injury people came to visit and offer their support and wisdom.  I feel like it would’ve made all the difference in the world, I feel I would have made different choices if I would have had a role model.

 

Inspiring Newly Injured Quadriplegics!  It is important for newly injured people to see other people with similar injuries who have been successful in adapting to living with their injury.  He gives them hope, and it shows them it can be conquered.  At the same times it helps to go back and see where I once was.  So it’s a win-win situation!

 

Keep on pushing on!

Michael C.

https://spinalcordinjuryliving.wordpress.com

 

 

I’m a Quadriplegic-I Don’t Want to Play Anymore!

I’m a Quadriplegic-I Don’t Want to Play Anymore!  I know having a spinal cord injury is a very difficult experience to adapt to and overcome.  After my injury I felt like I should be exempt from basically all responsibility.  I felt like I should be excused from everything I had done before my accident; however not everyone else felt the same way.  Society basically kept me in the game and wouldn’t let me just sit on the bench.

 

At the time of my spinal cord injury I just happen to be on probation.  I made no effort to contact my probation officer when I was in physical rehab.  He ended up tracking me down and paid me a visit.  I could not believe that he had come to hassle me as I sat there in my hospital bed in a neck brace with a urine bag hanging on the side of my bed with a catheter going under the covers into my privates.  I remember the first thing he said to me “why have you not contacted me?”  I also remember the first thing I said to him “F*** you, you B****** I broke my neck”.  I did not understand why he was wasting his time monitoring me, because I felt like I was basically a vegetable.

 

It wasn’t until a probation officer actually submitted a violation to the judge that I understood that breaking my neck and being in a wheelchair did not exempt me from responsibility.  I sat there in a courtroom while the judge stared at me and said “I do not care that you are in a wheelchair, it is a tragedy and very unfortunate, but you will adhere to the guidelines of your probation or I will not hesitate to send you to prison”.  For some reason and it wasn’t the threat of being sent to prison, I understood that just because I am now a quadriplegic I still had all the responsibilities I had before my accident.  It’s kind of funny but after I wheeled out of that courtroom I felt like a person again.

 

I had been living without a care in the world, thinking of no one but myself and having one heck of the self-pity party.  Fortunately I was able to accept responsibility and except it being in a wheelchair.  Now came a difficult time because for the last year I had been dodging all my responsibilities, from financial responsibility to just basic responsible living.

 

This experience was just one of the many steps in coming to terms with my injury.  Only now I have an understanding and acceptance of things, and now I am able to work through them much easier.  Life has always been about challenges and overcoming them, but that’s what makes life exciting.  I still have my days when I want to give up and blow off responsibility, but like I said before it does get easier and we do get wiser!

 

I’m a Quadriplegic-I Don’t Want to Play Anymore!  Well today my feelings have changed and I do want to play I want to experience all the wonderful things that life has to offer.  I want success and I want the old American dream, and that requires hard work and to be successful you have to participate!

 

Michael C.

https://spinalcordinjuryliving.wordpress.com

Making your mark in this world-Getting Motivated and Inspired!

Making your Mark in this World-Getting Motivated and Inspired!  Isn’t that what we all really want?  To be able to leave our mark so that people know we were here?  To be able to leave a legacy that we are proud of to our children and family?  What exactly is the mark we want to leave?  And how do we go about it?  How do we find the inspiration and motivation needed to fulfill our goal?

 

This subject has come up many times in my life, but would usually end up getting dismissed because I had no idea what I wanted out of life.  My dreams and goals always seemed to change like the weather, so trying to determine what I really wanted was a difficult task for me.  So I ended up coasting along in life with no real direction.  Sometimes my dreams seemed impossible to capture, so why should I waste the time chasing the impossible?

 

Well at age 35 I found myself still searching out my goals and dreams.  Don’t get me wrong I have some wonderful kids that I love dearly and are very proud of, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’d been getting this overwhelming drive to become something, and accomplish something!  It’s really hard to put into words but there was something missing in my life.  There was a huge void that needed to be filled, and I didn’t know how to, or what to fill it with?

 

Figuring out what our dreams are can be a difficult task, but there are steps we can take to do it.  Keeping a journal of things we want and that interest us is a good way to start.  Sitting down with a pen and paper and start writing down things that we like, interest us, and things we’ve always wanted to do regardless of the reasons why we couldn’t.  Understanding who we are as individuals can also help us determine what we can become.  I have done similar things in the past, but I was always inconsistent.  So how do we do this and follow-through?

 

Inspiration, Motivation, and discipline are the three tools that I use to accomplish my goals.  Becoming inspired is the first of the three steps I start with. I have found that it is hard to become motivated if I’m not inspired.  You can become inspired many different ways, looking at people who have and are doing the things we want is the first thing I look for.  My family is another big one.  You just have to find what works for you.  Motivation requires us to look a little bit into the future, projecting what we can become and the benefits that follow.  Discipline is the last on the list, but probably the most important, being able to follow through consistently with all the steps required to attain our goals.

 

 

Making your Mark in this World-Getting Motivated and Inspired!  There are many different ways to accomplish this.  I have found this is a very simple method, and also works for accomplishing many different goals.  This has worked for me in accomplishing many goals and I would recommend it to anyone who has problems trying to figure out their goals and dreams.

 

Good luck!  In your quest.

 

Michael C.

https://spinalcordinjuryliving.wordpress.com

Wheelchair Exercise-Pushing Your Wheelchair the Distance

Wheelchair Exercise-Pushing Your Wheelchair the Distance!  Why exercise is both important to the body and mind after a spinal cord injury.  Why developing an exercise routine is so important for the disabled. 

 

First of all before participating in any exercise/fitness program or routine a person should always consult a physician, especially after a spinal cord injury or any injury for that matter.

 

The body goes through some pretty dramatic changes following a spinal cord injury.  There is loss of sensation and motor function below the level of injury.  The extent and level of injury determines the amount of sensation and motor function a person will have.  Other changes in the body result as well, such as a drop in testosterone levels which can lead to many things such as: Depression, fatigue, decreased sexual drive and so on.

 

Physical therapy immediately following a spinal cord injury is recommended by most doctors for a couple reasons.  Many doctors claim healing occurs in the spinal cord for up to two years after an injury.  Exercising also promotes blood flow which carries oxygen throughout body to the damaged areas which promotes healing.  Any amount of exercise helps to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and right after a spinal cord injury depression can be severe.

 

There are two areas of exercise that I focus on.  Strength and conditioning for building strength in muscles that now have to compensate for the muscles affected by the injury.  Cardiovascular exercise is so important in building up endurance and in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (cvd) (More than 50 million people year are affected by cardiovascular disease so it’s no surprise then a person with a spinal cord injury is a little higher at risk.)

 

Weight machines/home gyms are ideal for wheelchair users.  Most machines with little or no alterations are wheelchair friendly.  Therabands and rubber tubing are excellent ways to begin building strength in the beginning.  I have found door gyms to be ideal, I can do every exercise necessary to work out my entire upper body.  Door gyms also don’t take up very much room.  Fitness centers provide a variety of machines which are wheelchair friendly and cover all the exercises for the upper body and you’re out of the house doing something which is healthy for the mind.

 

For cardiovascular and conditioning pushing my wheelchair works the best.  I try to push a minimum of an hour three to four days a week.  One of the days I actually push my wheelchair around yard through the grass which helps build up strength and endurance.  The other two or three days I will either push my neighborhood or go downtown and pushed my wheelchair up and down the parking structures.

 

Another great way to exercise is wheelchair sports, and there are many wheelchair sports available for the disabled.  Wheelchair rugby, track, and tennis are just a few that are great ways of exercise.  These sports are also competitive, which can give a nice boost to one’s self-esteem.

 

Wheelchair Exercise-Pushing Your Wheelchair the Distance!  Exercise and fitness is so important to every aspect of my life.  Wheelchair fitness has helped me to overcome the physical and mental obstacles that were preventing me from living life.

 

Michael C.

https://spinalcordinjuryliving.wordpress.com/

Recovery from Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries

Recovery from incomplete spinal cord injuries can be very difficult, the first couple years are the hardest.  In the beginning it’s overwhelming and it is hard to accept.

My name is Michael Cooley and I suffer from an incomplete spinal cord injury.  I was injured almost 8 years ago in an automobile accident.  I suffered a C5-6 spinal cord injury, which resulted in paralysis from the chest down.

After my neck surgery, where they fused my fifth and sixth vertebrae together, I was transferred a physical rehab for physical and occupational therapy. I was evaluated by a team of doctors, nurses, and psychiatrists who determined my recovery program.  I was assigned a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a psychologist.

My physical rehab recovery plan was given to me at the beginning of each week.  I received a weekly calendar that outlined my daily activities.  Which usually started out with rehab specialists showing up to my bedside bright and early around 6 a.m. to help me get dressed.  Unfortunately I did not get a lot of encouragement to do it myself (at least try or just do the things I was able to do) so I just let the techs dress me.  Breakfast usually arrived between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. which the rehab tech that was assigned to me that day would assist me in eating my breakfast (most of the daytime techs were good at encouraging and making you do things for yourself).  Following breakfast a physical therapy aide would stretch out my muscles to prevent atrophy, this was usually done in the physical therapy gym (which they encouraged) or if you just couldn’t make it (like me a lot of the time) to the gym they would come pay you a visit in your room.

I met with a physical therapist on a daily basis, usually for about an hour.  In the beginning the focus was on conditioning my muscles, trunk support, and learning to use different muscles to compensate for muscles affected by my spinal cord injury.  For strength and conditioning there were various exercise and weight machines designed for wheelchairs.  In the beginning it was a chore for me to reach up to scratch my nose, and I tired out very easily.  I spent a lot of my free time working out on the weight machines building up my strength and endurance.  This was a difficult time for me, because I was getting to know my body again, finding out what I could and could do, and what needed work.  When I was able to sit for 10 minutes on the exercise matt being able to support myself, I began working on transfers.  The first transfer I did was from my wheelchair to the exercise mat (which was elevated).  Most of my physical therapy consisted of strength, conditioning, and transferring.

I also got a daily dose of occupational therapy, which I found to be quite tedious and not very helpful.  I didn’t have the same occupational therapist every day and some were better than others.  Sometimes my therapy consisted of playing cards and other times some more important things like going to the bathroom.  Overall I think they’re occupational program needed work.

A couple times a week we had what was called Spinal Cord Group.  People from different organizations (such as independent living, vocational rehab etc. etc.) would come and present products or services related to spinal cord injury/disability.  Former spinal cord injured patients would show up from time to time and give their testimony (which I found most helpful).

About halfway into my stay they began to address my placement after rehab.  Unfortunately my options were very slim, to be honest there was only one option for me due to not having any family close by.  So unfortunately I was forced to live in a nursing home.  How insurance works is that they will cover usually about a month or a little more of physical rehab, then after a month of being out of physical rehab you could go back for what they called a tuneup.  This was a really bad time for me I became very depressed and lost all my motivation.

Like I mentioned earlier the first couple years are the hardest.  My emotions were up-and-down, one minute I was ready to take on the world and the next I was ready to pack it in.  One of the hardest things for me to deal with was having to live in a nursing home (the first thing that came to my mind was suicide, but I’ve never had the guts to do something like that) the fact that I couldn’t take care of myself was hard enough to deal with.  So here I was in a place that I had first-hand knowledge of being bad (in my younger years I was an EMT and did a lot of transfers to nursing homes in the Detroit area) so I was very scared.  I lashed out at every one, I was very mean to the people that were trying to help me.  I ended up being kicked out of a couple nursing homes because of my attitude and the harsh way I expressed myself.  I even lived with a couple I met from rehab that didn’t work out all.

Fortunately the last nursing home I was in, a young nursing aide took to me and within two months we were married.  This I thought was the answer, she took care of my every need and was at my beck and call.  She was awesome, however I took advantage of it and became very dependent on her.  It wasn’t for another year that I decided to take my life back, and reclaim my independence.

I got involved in wheelchair sports (quad rugby to be exact) where I met a lot of people with similar injuries and similar situations.  I saw these people doing things I wanted to do (dress myself, transfer in and out of my wheelchair, drive again etc. etc.) this gave me the inspiration and drive that I needed to overcome the obstacles preventing me from living my life (key word here is living).

The first thing I did on my own was transfer from my bed to my wheelchair.  This took me probably 20 minutes and I was ready to go back to bed! lol  I then began dressing myself which I think took about 45 minutes to an hour in the beginning, but with practice I narrowed it down considerably.  From there I was determined to do everything on my own, and soon I was transferring in an out of my vehicle and even driving.  I started to do all the things I used to do like cleaning the house (vacuuming, dusting etc. etc.), which by the way was excellent exercise and conditioning.  I also went back to school to further my education.  It wasn’t long before my spinal cord injury became almost second nature.  There are still things I cannot do and that’s just a fact of life for me, and I except that!

I live my life pretty much the same way I did before my spinal cord injury the only difference is the methods in which I do things.  I’ve had to adapt to a lot of different situations (but that’s life even for the able-bodied community).  Most if not all of my rehabilitation came from doing daily living activities and doing things over and over.  I have reclaimed my independence, and live life once again.  I am going on eight years of marriage and I maintain a household with two daughters and three dogs.  I have just started building an online business that will be successful with hard work and determination.  Recovery from an Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury can be difficult, but it is a fact of life and is possible.

Keep Those Wheels Rollin!

Michael C.

The search for legit online income resources

Well if you type in online income resources and do a Google search you’re going to have a hard time finding legitimate resources, from my experience.  I found that wording is so important (when searching for specific resources or just about anything) when you do an Internet search.  I ended up with all these programs promising to make you rich 10 minutes after you buy their product, but like they say if it sounds too good to be true it’s probably a crock.  So I finally decided to do a search for work at home forum’s and what I found was people helping each other build their online businesses up through sweat and hard work and they were walking the newbies through basically by the hand.

So I decided to join the forum http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/ The people seemed really willing to help new people out, offering them resources and pointing them in the right direction.  I tried sending personal messages to certain members I thought might be of help to me but for some reason I was not allowed to.  So I ended up contacting one of the members through one of her web sites and I’m still waiting to hear back from her.  All the posts I read of hers she seemed to be very helpful to new people and I just had a good feeling about her so we’ll see what happens in the next day or so.

I’m sure it’s going to cost some money to get the business up and running, costs of web site and things like that.  I don’t mind spending the money when I see people like her and others from the forum who have success but spent a little bit of time building up their business before they really made anything.  It’s a lot more believable than all the success stories on those get rich quick sites.

So I’ll be watching my e-mail box for the next couple of days to see if I can get a little help on finding some resources and getting pointed into the right direction.

Michael C.

Looking for an online income!

I have been surfing the Internet steadily since 2003, accomplishing absolutely nothing (unless you count my level 275 Blade knight from MU online).  I surfed a lot of the viral video sites, and kept up with all the latest Hollywood gossip and watched a few movies.  I’ve tried doing the paid survey thing which was a complete waste of time.  From time to time I would look into work at home businesses, but always got put off with all the get rich quick schemes and would end up back on the media sites.

I’m 40 years old and it’s becoming more important to me to find my niche so I can leave my mark in this world.  Now being that I’m in a wheelchair I am limited when it comes to the job market (fact of life).  Now when it comes to the job market online I’m on an even playing field.  The problem is being able to weed through all of the garbage get rich quick scams and finding something I feel good about that has endless resources that guide you through your endeavor.

Recently I started pounding the Internet searching for some type of work at home business so that I can contribute a little better to my family and also make my mark.  Some of the things I looked into were Pro Blogging, Freelance Writer, and Affiliate marketing.

Pro blogger can take a while before the Green will start rolling in, and that’s if you can stick with it and keep the blog updated on a regular basis with good solid interesting content.  As it grows you monetize it with Google ad sense and other streams of income.  This one could take a while, but it looks like it could be used in combination with the Freelance Writer and Affiliate marketing.

Freelance writer looks like you can make money pretty quick with all the different sites out there that you could submit articles to.  From what I’ve read you can write about anything as long as you put a little effort into your writing.  You won’t make very much but it helps you get established and gives you good experience for when you find good writing jobs to bid on.  It seems to be a good way to supplement an income.  Obviously Freelance Writer and Pro blogger go together.

Affiliate marketing is advertising and promoting other people’s web sites and products.  Receiving compensation through pay per click or receiving a percentage of the revenue generated by your web site.  I’m not an expert on this and I’m far from it,  so I am explaining this as I understand it.

Again it looks like all three of these Internet incomes go hand-in-hand.  This is my starting point and am going to pursue researching these Internet incomes and given them a go and see where it takes me.  You cannot claim success without putting forth hard work and effort.  There is no such thing as a get rich quick method, and from what I’ve been reading and in my own experience being successful takes hard work.

I will from time to time continually update my Internet income adventure and keep you informed of my progress.

Michael C.